Hospitality Design - December 2011 - 95

forecast
fact that, more than ever, consumers want to know the story, the history, and heritage of a product. “They are wanting to ask questions about the product,” says Savigar. “There’s a sense of ‘I need to know where and how this was made.’ It’s a residual feeling of the recession—people are more conscious of what they buy as they have learned a lot about what value stands for, and they like the leaner, ﬁtter lifestyle and attitude of consumption. There’s a group of consumers who we call the ‘just-nots,’ those that are just not making it, or they are not where they thought they would be and their money is not going as far as it used to. So now they are asking, ‘What can I get for my money?’” This has also led to people favoring a stripped-back design aesthetic, the idea of “seeing the handprint, the honesty of a design,” Savigar continues. “There’s a renaissance happening within money on vacations, more so than groceries (57 percent) and savings or paying off credit cards/debts (55 percent each). However, for women in emerging markets, vacation ranked seventh, with 40 percent saying they would allocate their extra money for it. Says Susan Whiting, vice chair, Nielsen: “Women are increasing their spending power, and with that they gain more control and inﬂuence over key household decisions. As a result the women of today and tomorrow

tactile and sensorial elements in design. People want something that is simple and straightforward, very well thought through, but not fussy or over the top. It’s something we call vasstige: value and prestige. They want something that is not very expensive, but they want it to be super extraordinary.” More for less, Gutsche says, translates into consumers trading in less luxurious trips for those that offer a dose of reality. Matteo Thun is designing the Bella Vista Trafoi hotel into the hillside of the Italian Alps where rooms look like raised rabbit holes. The Treehotel in Harads, Sweden, allows guests to sleep in six themed hotel rooms in, as the name implies, trees. Rooms at Dasparkhotel in Austria and Germany are repurposed drainpipes. And hotels like the Yotel in New York and especially the Xitai Capsule Hotel in Shanghai (the city’s ﬁrst, with rooms measuring roughly seven by four feet) offer travelers small, budget rooms. “The online media has made it so easy to discover unique and interesting things that the act of discovery has become distracting,” Gutsche says. “Accordingly, we’ve moved to a world where simplicity and unique experiences really stand out.” Another design renaissance: “a sense of revivalism, a real sense of historical nostalgia,” says Savigar, “which is huge when times are bad. It takes people back to a time when the world seemed better, even though they usually forget what was happening then.” He points to folklore gaining popularity—brands reissuing items like McDonald’s reintroducing the original burger and Coke bringing back its ﬁrst bottle design, and closed-down companies like Truman beer reemerging. are powerful consumers and understanding their habits and attitudes is critically important for marketers and advertisers.” The study also found that the most important driver of brand loyalty—in 20 of the 21 countries examined, across 12 factors and across generations—is quality. Only women in the UK put trust ahead of quality. “Women tell Nielsen that quality, not price, drives longterm brand loyalty,” says Whiting. “Though price and value are important, particularly to attract an initial purchase decision, marketers need to take note that longterm positioning must emphasize quality to earn her trust.” In terms of media technology, the Nielsen Women of Tomorrow U.S. Multicultural survey found that for women, it’s not simply about entertainment; it is about making life better. The majority of women said that computers, cell phones, and smart phones improve their lives in meaningful ways. In fact, multicultural women in the U.S. had the highest penetration of smart phones than women in other developed countries as well as those in emerging markets. Nielsen’s Women of Tomorrow report found that women use social features of phones and visit more community internet sites than men. In fact, 65-70 percent of active, online female users age 18-plus in developed markets such as Australia, France, Italy, South Korea, and Brazil log on to the leading social networking site in their market. In the U.S., 73 percent of online women visit the leading social networks, while in Germany, 50 percent visit. “To connect with women, strategies should be social and relevant,” explains Whiting. “With social networking, women typically follow brands more so than men, making the social networking tool relevant for discounts, deals, and coupons. Women are much more likely to engage with media that seamlessly integrates into and improves their day-to-day lives.”

Tight sleeping quarters at the Xitau Capsule Hotel in Shanghai.

The Matteo Thun-designed Bella Vista Trafoi hotel.

Girl Power
Women as consumers have more inﬂuence than ever—so much so that women-only ﬂoors are increasing in hotels. But it’s not just for women business travelers. According to Nielsen’s Women of Tomorrow report, 58 percent of women in developed markets plan on spending their extra

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December 2011

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